Comparing Rivers:
The Mississippi and the Niger

November 7-8, 2002
 The 5^th Randall L. Gibson
Tulane University–U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers
Conference on the Mississippi River

New Orleans
The Old U.S. Mint
400 Esplanade Avenue

7 November 2002

8:30-9:00  Registration and Refreshments

9:00-10:30  Session 1.  Comparing Rivers

Chair:  Terrence Fitzmorris (University College, Tulane University)

Conference Overview

• C. P. Wolf (Social Impact Assessment Center)

Dedication

• Stephen E. Ambrose (late Professor of History Emeritus, University of New Orleans)

• Austin B. M. Egborge (late Professor of Hydrobiology, University of Benin)

Welcome

• Louis Carr (Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

• Col. Peter J. Rowan (New Orleans District Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

• Teresa Soufas (Tulane University)

• R. D. Abubakar (National Inland Waterways Authority)

• Onyema Ugochukwu (Niger Delta Development Commission)

• Dirk Reinermann (Nigeria Country Program Coordinator The World Bank)

Keynote Addresses

• Douglas Brinkley (Eisenhower Center for American Studies, University of New Orleans)  The Mississippi and the Making of a Nation

• Goodluck Jonathan (Bayelsa State)  Resource Control and Regional Development

10:30-10:45  Break

10:45-12:15  Session 2. Development Experience

Chair:  Colin MacLachlan (Tulane University)

Development History

• Edwin Lyon (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Tulane University) Lessons Learned from the Mississippi Experience

• Godfrey N. Uzoigwe (Mississippi State University) The River Niger as a Metaphor for Nigeria

River Development

•  Jerry A. Skalak (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) The Comprehensive Plan for the Upper Mississippi

• Peter C. Nwilo (National Inland Waterways Authority) The Inland Waterways Master Plan

Regional Development

• Hayes Dent (Delta Regional Authority)  The Delta Regional Authority

• Godwin Omene (Niger Delta Development Commission) and Therese Griessel (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit [GTZ])  Developing a Master Plan for the Niger Delta Region

Rapporteur: Gib Owen (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

12:15-1:45  Lunch

1:45-3:15 Session 3.  Resource Development

Chair:  Stephen Collinsworth (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

Water Resources

• David Biedenharn (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)  Morphologic Response on the Lower Mississippi River

• Joaquin Mujica (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)  The Mississippi River Project

• Ousmane Diallo (Niger Basin Authority)  International Perspectives on Niger River Development

• National Inland Waterways Authority.  The River Niger Dredging Project

• Patrick Okosi (Concerned Communities, Trofani, Bayelsa State)  Issues in Niger River Dredging

• Allison Attah (State of Akwa Ibom) The Impact of Oil Exploration and Exploitation on the Geomorphology of the Niger Delta Communities

Rapporteur:  Gregory Breerwood (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

3:15-3:30  Break

3:30-5:00 Session 4. Economic Development

Chair:  Ivan J. Miestchovich, Jr. (University of New Orleans)

Agricultural Development

•  Paul Coreil (Louisiana State University) Lower Mississippi Valley Initiative

• Edwin Aroh (Rivers State University of Science and Technology) Agricultural Development in the Niger Valley

Industrial Development

• Anatoly Hochstein (National Ports and Waterways Institute, University of New Orleans)  Ports and Waterways of the Mississippi River - Present and Future

Petroleum Development

• Harry Luton (Minerals Management Service) and Robert Gramling (University of Louisiana at Lafayette) Socioeconomic Effects of OCS Oil and Gas Development in the Gulf of Mexico

• Ayorinde Idowu (Jamemil Petroleum Services)  Petroleum Development in Nigeria

• David Brignac (Shell Chemical)  The Norco Good Neighbor Initiative

Rapporteur: Bryan Guevin (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

5:00-6:30 Reception

8 November 2002

8:30-9:00  Registration and Refreshments

9:00-9:15  Introductory Remarks

9:15-10:45  Session 5.  Environmental Development

Chair:  Robert Robelus (Africa Region, The World Bank)

Environmental Quality

• Hank Bart (Tulane University) Biological Response to Environmental Changes in the Lower Mississippi River

• Felix B. Dayo (Triple “E” Systems Associates, Lagos and Carnegie Mellon University)  Vulnerability and Adaptation of Coastal West Africa to Climate Change

Environmental Management

• Troy Constance (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) Coastal Erosion and Restoration: The Coast 2050 Plan

• Telema Princewill (Niger Delta Development Commission) Developing an Environmental Management Plan for the Niger Delta

Environmental Justice

•  Beverly Wright (Deep Delta Center for Environmental Justice, Xavier University) Race, Politics, and Pollution: The Mississippi River Chemical Corridor

• Oronto Douglas (Environment Rights Action, Port Harcourt) Environmental Justice in the Niger Delta

Rapporteur:  Phillip Jones (Xavier University)

10:45-11:00  Break

11:00-12:30  Session 6.  Social Development

Chair:  Murray Jones (Shell International, London)

Cultural Development

• Joan Exnicios (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)  Cultural Heritage and Cultural Resources

Community Development

•  Freddye Webb-Pettet (Kellogg Foundation) The Mid-South Development Initiative

• Dirk Reinermann (Nigeria Country Program Coordinator, The World Bank) Community Driven Development

Institutional Development

• Jeffrey Ballweber (Mississippi State University)  Institutional Development in the Mississippi Delta Region

• Nightingale Rukuba-Ngaiza (The World Bank)  Policy and Legal Dimensions of Environmental Decision-Making

• Joan Pope (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) Corps of Engineers Water Resources Research and Development: Overview

Rapporteur: Cyril Mann (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

12:30-2:00  Lunch

2:00-3:30  Session 7.  Capacity Development

Chair:  William Bertrand (Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer, Tulane University)

Knowledge for Development

• Gayatri Acharya (The World Bank Institute) and Vahid Alavin (The World Bank) Capacity Building for Implementing Integrated Water Resources Management

Information and Technology Transfer

• Ralph Scheid (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)  Electronic Chart Mapping of the Mississippi River

• Richard Campanella (Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier Universities)  The Use of GIS in Temporal and Spatial Analysis of Controlled Rivers

• Cordelia C. Anadi (Nnamdi Azikiwe University) and Allison K. Anadi (Southern University at New Orleans) Job Creation, Training and Entrepreneurial Opportunities in Oil Producing Communities in the Niger Delta

Combining Indigenous and Expert Knowledge

• Alan Bornbusch (American Association for the Advancement of Science)  Community Based Participatory Research

• Amy Emerhi (IAIA-Nigeria)  The Niger Delta Project

Rapporteur: Jay Gamble (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

3:30-3:45  Break

3:45–5:00  Session 8.  Program Development

Chair:  Dirk Reinermann (The World Bank)

Issues and Options

•  Howard R. Bush (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

• Session Rapporteurs

Research Agenda

• Alan Bornbusch (American Association for the Advancement of Science)  Future Directions in River Science and Policy

The Future

• Godwin Omene (Niger Delta Development Commission) and Dirk Reinermann (The World Bank) The Future of the Niger Valley

Summary

• C. P. Wolf (Social Impact Assessment Center)

Sponsor

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

• Tulane University Center for Scholars

• University College, Tulane University

• American Association for the Advancement of Science

• The World Bank Institute

• The Social Impact Assessment Center

• Shell International

• IAIA-Nigeria, an affiliate of the International Association for Impact Assessment

Organizers:

• Edwin Lyon (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Tulane University)

• Joan Exnicios (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

• C.P. Wolf (Social Impact Assessment Center)

• Colin MacLachlan (Tulane University)